1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to amusement devices known as vacuum crane games, and more particularly to a vacuum crane game with targets having beaded or dimpled surfaces such that the targets can be presented with varying difficulty in their acquisition and extraction.
2. Description of Related Art
Crane-type or xe2x80x9cclaw machinexe2x80x9d arcade games are popular amusement devices often provided in game arcades, stores, or other public places. In these types of games, prize objects are provided within a closed housing and are viewable by a player through transparent glass or the like. Upon the insertion of a coin or other monetary input into the game, the player controls a mechanical claw or other grasping implement with a joystick, buttons, toggle switch, or the like. Typically, the claw is provided above the prize objects and the player can change the position of the claw over the prizes. The claw is then lowered toward the prizes upon activation by either automatically by a controller such as a computer or manually by the player, depending on the particular embodiment. The claw is either automatically opened when it reaches the level of the prizes or is opened under the player""s control. After a predetermined amount of time, the claw may be automatically elevated. The claw may or may not be able to grasp a prize and hold onto the prize as the claw is raised. The controller then moves the claw over to a dispensing container and opens the claw, allowing the prize (if any is held) to drop into the dispensing chute and to be guided through the dispenser to an opening accessible to the player. In a common implementation, a sensor within the dispenser detects whether a prize has been won by the player. After the claw is opened over the dispenser, the controller moves the claw to its original starting position and waits for another insertion of the coin (unless the player is provided with multiple tries).
The prizes that the operator of a claw-type crane game can provide in the game are usually limited in selection due to the limitations of the mechanical claw. Since the claw must surround an object to be able to pick it up, most prizes in a claw-type crane game have been limited to large stuffed dolls or other soft, rough-surfaced merchandise that can be surrounded and grabbed by the claw fingers and raised from the supporting surface. Usually, flat, smooth or thin objects are not able to be picked up and held by the claw. However, a large number of flat, smooth, and thin objects are desirable to used as prizes in a crane-type game, such as smooth-surfaced spheres or eggshell containers, boxes, gumballs, cups, bulbs, trading cards, etc. Players desire to win these types of items and operators desire to provide them; however, the standard claw type mechanism cannot be used to pick them up.
One solution to the inability of claw-type cranes to pick up these objects is to provide a different type of pick-up device. One type of device that is used is a vacuum device that uses air suction to grab and hold an object. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,772 of Glaser, a vacuum embodiment of a crane pick-up game is disclosed in which a vacuum motor is suspended from a string and concealed by a facade or enclosure. The player may move the motor and lower the motor towards a field of prizes similarly to the claw in claw-type crane games. A spinning fan within the motor creates a suction force that is used to pick up and hold prizes. An orifice with a screen is used to prevent items from being sucked into the orifice. Prizes captured and held by the suction are dispensed to the player through a dispenser.
More recent vacuum crane games have improved on the concept and made the game more challenging. In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,374, a vacuum crane game is disclosed wherein the vacuum head is used to pick up one of the prizes using a suction force that is provided by a vacuum pump coupled to the vacuum head by a hose and located away from the vacuum head. Moving the pumping apparatus away from the crane head mechanism provides greater maneuverability than previous devices that carried the pumping equipment at the crane head. In general, the vacuum crane game is characterized by a vacuum pick up device positioned above the prize or target area and may be moved along a horizontal axis above the prize area. The pick up device includes a vacuum head that may be raised and lowered toward a turntable in a z-direction. The vacuum head is operative to pick up one of the prizes using a suction force that is provided by a vacuum pump coupled to the vacuum head by a hose. The vacuum pump is located away from the vacuum head to allow the vacuum head to move without interference. The player may control the movement of the pick up device to position the vacuum head over the prize area at a desired position, lower the vacuum head, and pick up a prize using the suction force. The pick up device is moved to a dispenser area and the suction force is removed to allow the prize to be dispensed to the player. The disclosure of my ""374 patent is incorporated fully herein by reference. In another embodiment, the vacuum head may be moved in both x- and y-directions above the prize area and the turntable is omitted.
With vacuum crane games, it is desirable to provide prizes having smooth continuous surfaces such that a seal can be formed by the vacuum head against the prize. Without a complete seal, the vacuum head cannot effectively apply suction to the prize sufficiently to enable the prize to be lifted out of the prize bin. As a consequence, prizes such as jewelry, trading cards, candy, and toys are typically enclosed in transparent or opaque spheroids such as spheres and egg-shaped plastic containers. Such spheroids will have exteriors that meet the requirement of smooth, continuous surfaces allowing the vacuum head to make complete, sealing contact. An example of this type of prize collection for a vacuum crane game can be found in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,881, entitled xe2x80x9cCrane Game with Prize Redistribution Mechanismxe2x80x9d and incorporated herein fully by reference.
While the collection of spheroids in the prize bin of a vacuum crane game provides an enjoyable alternative to mechanical crane games that are used to pick-up irregularly shaped prizes, the challenge of picking up a spheroid once mastered may wane for the player seeking greater challenges. As a consequence, skilled players seeking a challenging game may look to other options due to the absence of variety of the spheroid targets. Further, the options of prizes may be limited to those objects that can fit inside a relatively small spheroids since larger spheroids would take up too much space in the prize bin.
The present invention is characterized in a first preferred embodiment by a vacuum crane game with targets having substantially smooth surfaces interrupted strategically with beaded nodules or bumps of varying number and positions to present prizes of varying capture difficultly. Because the flat vacuum crane head requires uninterrupted contact with the target to achieve an airtight seal, the crane game player must either avoid or completely cover the surface bumps to pick up a target. If the vacuum head rests on one or more of the beaded nodules, no seal can be achieved and the capture of the target will be unsuccessful. Targets with more bumps will be inherently more difficult to pick up than targets with fewer nodules, and with a variety of different targets having different bump configurations the game has challenges for all skill levels.
In a first embodiment, the target bin of a vacuum crane game is supplied with a plurality of transparent disks resembling Petri dishes having front and rear faces, and where the respective faces include beads ranging from zero to ten or more spaced along the surface. Inside the transparent disks are cards or tags that can be easily viewed by the player showing a prize reward for successfully retrieving the target from the prize bin. A reward can be a numerical point value displayed on the tag that can be applied to redeem prizes, or alternatively the tag can specify a prize displayed at some location where the target is redeemed. In yet a third embodiment, the prize can be physically located inside the disk. The value of the reward is tied to the number and location of the beads, where higher number of beads or centrally located beads correspond to a higher degree of difficulty due to a smaller available continuous surface, and such targets possess a higher prize redemption value.
Alternative target shapes can be used in place of transparent disks, such as flat chips with numerical values printed thereon, transparent capsules or spheres with tags viewable from the outside, or boxes, where each target includes substantially flat surfaces with beads on the surfaces to add difficulty to the task of retrieving the target. Alternatively, the beads can be replaced with dimples that likewise act to breakup the continuous surface and increase the difficulty of making an uninterrupted contact with the vacuum crane head. In yet another alternate embodiment, grooves in the surface of the target can resist the application of suction because the air is drawn in at the ends of the grooves, preventing adherence of the target with the vacuum head. Each of these devices can be used to create a more difficult target for a vacuum crane game.